Replies

  • Frist of the door is old and the paint was falling off.

  • Sweetie I get where you are coming from and I do understand the attachment. My son is also autistic. If you’re taking precautions and you are aware that it’s more likely they would die inside than out and you still want them there then keep them there. As long as your environment is being kept clean for your health and safety as well as theirs, and you or your family is not negatively impacted then you just have to make the right decision for you. However you showed a picture of your goat eating paint off of a door. Not only is that hazardous to his or her health it’s destroying your home. It’s really not a great situation for any of you. 

  • Ok I know that you both say that it is bad but look at them they love it inside with me and my family. They also sleep in bed with us. I have autism and I need my goat Jennie.

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  • I just got in touch with the woman who had the goat who had surgery last year, and it turns out that her goat died the day after surgery. 

    Your goats will not die if you put them in an appropriate shelter and provide them with appropriate food and water. There is no reason your goats need to be in the house. We live in Illinois where it gets below zero in the winter, and our goats do just fine outside. They need to be protected from wind and rain and snow.  They just need someone to make sure all of their needs are met, which includes feed, water, and shelter. 

  • Look, if you want them there and you understand that being inside and getting into something could actually kill them then we can’t talk you out of it. That said if you’re really looking for advice on what’s best for goats, being outside is best for them. They won’t die from being outside if they have proper shelter and food and water. They have each other which is most important. If they’re bottle babies then I get that they may be pushy and demand to be near you and you may take that as them needing to be inside with you. If you’ve made your mind up you’ve made your mind up but I think you should really consider other possibilities.
  • well mine do and i am 14

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    Just found the list of things that poor house goat had removed ...

    major blockage in his rumen...was trying to move into the second stomach and that's when things got bad. No more inside goats...never ever again. A ponytail holder, 3 balloons, a rubberband, 5 pimples from Dr pimple popper game, hair, and what I assume is a grocery bag...nobody is sure what it is. Goats in a human kid home don't mix.

  • Look i kn it is bad  but if i put them outside they will die they need me

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    Just found the list of things that poor house goat had removed ...

    major blockage in his rumen...was trying to move into the second stomach and that's when things got bad. No more inside goats...never ever again. A ponytail holder, 3 balloons, a rubberband, 5 pimples from Dr pimple popper game, hair, and what I assume is a grocery bag...nobody is sure what it is. Goats in a human kid home don't mix.

  • Just found the list of things that poor house goat had removed ...

    major blockage in his rumen...was trying to move into the second stomach and that's when things got bad. No more inside goats...never ever again. A ponytail holder, 3 balloons, a rubberband, 5 pimples from Dr pimple popper game, hair, and what I assume is a grocery bag...nobody is sure what it is. Goats in a human kid home don't mix.

  • It is a bad idea to have goats in your house. We sometimes bring goats in if they need extra help at birth, as Maggie said, but we put them outside in the barn as soon as possible. When we were new, my daughters thought it was oh-so-fun to have kids in the house, but there are all sorts of problems that you can have ... they can chew on electrical cords, and even if they don't get electrocuted, they've ruined your electrical cord, which is pretty expensive when it's the power cord to your laptop! (Do you have to ask me how I know this???) We also had a kid ruin a DVD player when he decided to dance on top of it while it was playing a DVD.

    I heard of one poor house goat that had to have surgery to remove all of the "stuff" he had eaten ... hair ties, small plastic toys, etc. The list was insanely long. The surgery was very expensive. 

    And even if you somehow managed to keep them out of trouble, there is the issue of putting them outside at some point. They will scream and scream and scream. And they will be the most unbelievable escape artists the world has even seen because they want to get back to mommy -- which is you. We wound up with five or six 3-year-old apple trees killed because one year my daughters had several kids in the house, and once they were put out in the pasture, they kept escaping. 

    I have also been contacted by people who have goats in the house who wind up with health problems. Goats are ruminants, and they need to be eating almost all day long. They walk around and eat until their rumen is full, then they go lay down, burp up their cud and chew everything a second time and then send it down to their second stomach. Where do you plan to put a hay feeder in your house so that they can eat all day? And they need loose minerals available 24/7 also. 

    There is also the issue of exercise. As goats eat, they walk. They are pretty much walking all day except when they are laying down chewing their cud. I've seen a lot of city goats kept in small backyards wind up obese from lack of exercise. They are also bored and start screaming, so to get them quiet, the owners give them more to eat, which just makes them fatter. 

    Then there is the issue of pee and poop. Although my daughter was able to teach goats to pee on a towel, I've never heard of anyone teaching them to poop somewhere specific, so they just let the poop fly whenever the urge hits. Although you can put diapers on a goat for an hour to do a therapy visit, I can tell you that when we had a llama that wound up paralyzed and peeing and pooping on herself, she wound up with serious skin issues from exposure to pee and poop -- and she was not wearing a diaper. She got a rash from having the urine running down her back end all the time. (Normally they squat to pee so their skin gets zero urine exposure.) I would think that they'd eventually have some issues if their skin had wet pee and poop pressed agains their skin from a diaper. Honestly the idea of putting a diaper on a goat long term sounds cruel to me. 

    Dogs and cats make great house pets, but ruminants really need to be outside. 

  • Why i am asking is because my grandpa thinks it is wrong but what if both goats are therapy goats is it still a bad idea. 

    Maggie said:

    Honestly I don’t know why anyone would want to do this long term. All goats need at least one other goat so you’d have two indoor goats which is going to get messy. Many people have kids that need extra attention inside sometimes if they’re weak or sick but I can’t imagine having goats permanently living inside. That said that’s just my preference. If you have two goats and you really want them in your house I can’t imagine that it would be seriously damaging to the goats. You would have to be very sure not to leave things out that they shouldn’t eat or get into. Nigerians can live happily even in smaller yards with proper feed water and a friend. Even with just a large dog house for shelter if need be. So don’t feel like they have to be indoors but if you WANT them there then again that’s your choice. Good luck!
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